


Protector

by tired_truffle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Long-Term Relationship(s), Love them, Original Character(s), Slytherin, bickering like an old married couple, protective sister, tense staring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-10-24 19:57:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20711672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tired_truffle/pseuds/tired_truffle
Summary: All her life Jacky Potter has wanted nothing but to protect her twin brother, Harry. This may seem like a simple task, but for Jacky, it is anything but that. Harry never ceases to get himself in to all sorts of trouble, leaving Jacky to try to pick up all the pieces. To complicate this they are in opposing Hogwarts houses and a certain Malfoy won't leave her alone. Draco/OC





	1. The Quidditch World Cup

Jacklyn Lily Potter, known more often as Jacky, was always getting in trouble. It was all because of her twin brother, Harry James Potter. The two were inseparable, even though they were in different houses. Harry being in Gryffindor and Jacky being in Slytherin, one would think that they could not be any more opposite. However, they would disagree. Maybe it came from growing up living together in a cupboard under the stairs, or maybe it was that for years they had been each other's only companions, but either way they always had each other's back.

However, while Harry was exceptionally good at magic and always got praise, Jacky was simply average. Harry was commended for defeating Voldemort, but it seemed that no recognized that Jacky had been there too. No one ever asked her about it as she had simply been a bystander. She had no scar and no attachment to Voldemort like her brother. She didn't even have any memories of their parents. She would swear that she was not jealous, especially since her brother did not want any of the attention, yet there was this small part, hidden deep down that would say otherwise.

One thing that she did have was her attachment to her brother. When their mom had put her spell on Harry, she had also put it on Jacky, tying the two twins together. She could feel his stronger feelings, when he was really scared, or when he was feeling particularly angry, and she always seemed to know where he was. It had been useful but was also a large source of frustration. When Harry was mad it made Jacky have similar feelings. It had caused unnecessary explosions from her, ones that she would have to apologize profusely for afterwards.

Throughout their first three years of school at Hogwarts, there had been many adventures. In First Year, Jacky had followed her brother down to find the philosopher's stone, throwing herself at Quirrell to stop him from hexing her brother, having the curse instead hit her. She had had to watch, paralyzed as Quirrell threatened to kill her if Harry did not do as he asked. Fortunately, Harry was able to touch Quirrell and cause him to melt away. Gryffindor had won the house cup that year, with Slytherin close behind due to her winning many house points with her sacrificial bravery. She had been teased relentlessly by her fellow Slytherins for acting like a Gryffindor, especially by Malfoy who seemed to take no small amount of pleasure in throwing insults at her and her friends.

In Second Year, she had been paralyzed, pushing Harry out of the room the Basilisk had tried to corner them in, but looking in a mirror as she did so. Her black cat, Bear, had stayed by her side, refusing to leave the hospital wing for the whole two weeks she was paralyzed. Bear was a loyal cat and a constant companion to Jacky, something that she would forever be grateful for.

In Third Year, Bear and Crookshanks had teamed up to try to catch Peter Pettigrew, their traitorous family friend. It was Bear who had first alerted Jacky to the fact that something was not quite adding up. On a Hogsmeade trip, Jacky had seen Bear rubbing up against what she had thought was the Grimm. After the initial surprise of finding out the Grimm was actually Sirius Black, and that Sirius was innocent, Jacky had been able to convince Professor Snape to not attempt to turn Sirius in. While Sirius and Snape hated each other, Snape had always had a soft spot for her, as much as a cold man like Snape could have a soft spot. She did not know why but she wondered if it had something to do with how much she looked like her mother. They had the same bright orange hair, freckles spotting her face, and bright green eyes that matched with her brother's. From what she had heard from Remus, and Sirius in his letters, Snape had been quite a friend of Lily Potter for some time.

Unfortunately, Sirius had to go on the run again. If only she had not been so injured by the smack of Remus's paw to the side of her head when he turned into a werewolf, she may have been lucky enough to say goodbye to her godfather in person as Harry had. Jacky wished more than anything that they could have gone to live with him, the Dursley's had done some truly terrible things to both Potter children.

The summer before Fourth Year had been awful as usual for the twins. They had both lost a lot of weight due to the Dursley's using restriction of food as a punishment and were constantly berated with insults to their family and themselves as wizard and witch. It had been such a relief to have been allowed to go to the Quidditch World cup with the Weasleys and escape a week of torture living with their aunt and uncle. The twins were finally free of the torturous Dursleys but were in for more than they realized when they set off for their fourth year at Hogwarts.

I have never been the Quidditch wiz that Harry was, but I have to admit, watching people fly around on broomsticks trying not to be hit by leather balls was quite entertaining. However, exerting all my energy climbing up a huge hill was not how I had to spend the day. Why we are going up this bloody hill in the first place was lost to me. Was the Quidditch World Cup so close to the Weasley's house? Fred and George had excitedly gone on about how large and loud the stadium was supposed to be, but I couldn't hear a single cheer thing. We had only just walked for an hour, surely there was no Quidditch stadium within that radius. However, after being introduced to a handsome man by the name of Cedric Diggory, Hermione, Ginny and I all looked at each other, exchanging small, knowing smiles. Everyone knew of Cedric Diggory, but he was much more charming than I had originally thought. After our meeting with the two Diggory men, with the elder Diggory fawning over my brother like every other wizard and witch did, Ginny explained that we would be taking a Port Key.

"It's a spell put on an everyday object that brings you from one place to another." Ginny tried explaining.

"Do we have to do anything special, like speak clearly when saying the destination?" I asked loud enough for Harry to hear her. He looked back and rolled his eyes, knowing full well I was making fun of him for failing his first trip with Floo powder.

"It was one time!" He complained. I laughed along with the other girls at Harry's misfortune. He really was clumsy at everything, one of the main reasons he needed someone like me there to make sure he didn't trip over his own shoelaces. I love my brother but he was, and I mean it in the most loving way possible, a hopeless case.

The Port Key ride was not what I had expected. It was like being sucked through a vacuum while spinning at 100km/h. Harry, being Harry, had almost not grabbed on in time, at the last second I managed to pull his hand towards the boot quickly and he was able to grab on. All the teens minus Cedric crashed to the ground with a hard thud. I lifted my sore head, why hadn't we gone over how to properly land before we had left? Watching as Cedric angelically floated through the air towards us did not help to ease my embarrassment. He offered her a hand when he landed beside me.

"Thanks." I said, taking his hand, my face going bright red. Of course, way to embarrass myself in front of a cute boy. Just what I wanted to do today.

The Quidditch stadium was larger than I had ever imagined. It must have been almost as tall as Hogwarts itself! Outside the stadium was miles and miles of people in old, burlap tents, everyone running around, cheering for their favourite teams. I finally understood what Fred and George had been raving on about, I had never seen so many people in one place!

Mr. Weasley ushered everyone over to a small tent. "Welcome home everyone!" He said, opening the doorway to the tent. I looked at Mr. Weasley incredulously, how were eight people supposed to fit into a tent barely big enough for two? I was shocked when I walked inside to see that it was massive! There were three separate rooms off the large main room, leaving plenty of space for everyone. Harry and I looked at each other, giddy smiles on our faces.

"I love magic." Harry said to me.

"If only we could have had this in the cupboard under the stairs!" I said, both of us giving a small laugh.

Everyone started to unpack and the celebrations began! Face paint was brought out as well as all sorts of different hats and outfits with each teams colours strewn all over them. Much to my protest, Fred and George managed to paint an Irish flag on half of my face.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked, I didn't even know if I liked the Irish Quidditch team.

"Absolutely." Said George.

"You doubt us?" said Fred.

"We would never lie to you, Jacky!" Said George, both of the Weasley twins smirking at each other.

"It's a Weasley Quidditch cup requirement." Said Fred. As it so happened it was not. Only Fred, George, and I had paint on our faces by the time we were ready to leave the tent. I gave them a withering look but held my head high and walked on. Besides, green was one of my favourite colours.

Excitement had filled the air. There were wizards and witches everyone speaking with anticipation for the match to come. We walked by hordes of people, climbing up hundreds of staircases to get to the very top, where our seats were.

You'd think with all the magic that wizards have that they would have invented a magical elevator or something? I wheezed up the stairs, not used to this kind of energy spending. One thing about being trapped in your room all summer is you don't really get any exercise and I was seriously out of shape. I eventually caught up to my brother when we were only a few more staircases from the top.

"How are you able to do this? You haven't done anything either since school ended." I asked, astounded at Harry's energy. He shrugged, a huge smile on his face.

"Just excited." He replied.

Ah yes, Harry's everlasting love of Quidditch would never slow him down.

"Blimey, dad!" Ron exclaimed. "How far up are we?" Before Mr. Weasley had a chance to respond, a familiar and very unwanted voice swiped at the chance for a snide reply.

"Let's put it this way." Said Lucius Malfoy, standing on the platform beside where we were standing. "If it rains, you'll be the first to know." I rolled my eyes. As if seeing the human embodiment of a snake was not bad enough, his son was standing right beside him.

Draco Malfoy and I had never liked each other very much. Ever since we met in Diagon Alley before 1st year we had taken every opportunity to throw insults at each other. He was a prat who took joy in putting down my friends and family, how could I not retaliate? I was forever frustrated that Snape would make us sit together, he was the best in Slytherin and I was the worst. Snape seemed to think that I could learn something from him. Instead, all that I had learned about was Malfoys weekly 'accomplishments'. Which first year he had taunted and how he had lost Gryffindor some house points. It was bad enough that we were in the same house, let alone forced to spend time together in that damp dungeon.

"Father and I are in the minister's box." Malfoy Jr. boasted, him and his father walking around the platform to where Harry and I had moved. "By personal invitation of Cornelius fudge himself!"

"Don't boast, Draco, there's no need with these people." Lucius said, using the claw end of his cane to punch his son in the stomach. As much as I hated Malfoy, I had had similar punishments doled out to me from the Dursley's and I did not enjoy seeing anyone else physically hurt by their parents. The only thing worse than putting up with Draco Malfoy was putting up with his father.

Harry grabbed my shoulder to turn me away when Lucius reached out with his cane and trapped Harry's hand on the railing. My vision went red, who did Lucius think he was, no one was allowed to touch my brother like that!

"Do enjoy yourself won't you, while you can." He said in a threatening tone. Before he could do anything else, I grabbed the cane in my hand and yanked it off my brother with a hard tug.

"Don't. Touch. Him." I growled, feeling very protective of my twin. Lucius simply smiled, but not in the way a normal person does. More like the smile of someone who has never felt happiness and instead takes happiness from other people's suffering.

"You too Ms. Potter. Have fun." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on Jacky, it's not worth it." Harry said, pulling me away. I looked once more at Draco, giving my best withering look. Draco stared back and we went our separate ways.

Once we were up at the top, we could not imagine why it was a bad thing. We had an amazing view of the cheering fans and it felt like the Irish Quidditch players flew right over our heads! It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen, outside of Hogwarts of course.

Everyone laughed and cheered as the Irish shot a great big green leprechaun into the air, it looked to be made of fireworks. It did a little jig before being exploded by the Bulgarians coming through. There was one specific Bulgarian who was doing tricks on his broom that caught my eye.

"Who's that?" I asked, having to speak loudly over the roar of the stadium.

"That, Jacky, is the best seeker in the world!" Fred exclaimed. A huge moving picture of the man was magically put over a quarter of the stadium. Everyone was cheering his name.

"Krum! Krum! Krum!" I heard them scream. Over the roar, the minister gave his greetings and the game finally started. It was difficult for me to keep up with everything that was going on as Quidditch still didn't fully make sense to me, but I could not deny that it was exciting. The players raced across the field, Irish taking the lead. They flew with such accuracy and speed that I could not help but admire. When the match was over and the Irish had won, even though Krum had been the one to catch the snitch, we went back to our tent. We laughed and ate candy, the Weasley twins danced, playing pretend instruments on the sticks of their Irish flags, and everyone teased Ron over his adoration for Krum. It was a great time to be in the wizarding community again. The support and love that I could feel was like a breath of fresh air, something I had not literally or figuratively felt for the whole summer. However, in the classic Potter luck fashion, it was over too soon.

There was yelling and screaming coming from outside the tent. There had been all night, however, this was less of a celebratory cheer and more so screams of terror.

"Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on." Fred said. At this moment, Mr. Weasley burst back into the tent.

"Stop, stop it." He said to George as he was hitting Ron with a pillow. He walked over and broke up their squabble.

"It's not the Irish." Mr. Weasley said in an urgent tone, making a pit of dread form in my stomach. Of course, we could not enjoy just one day without something happening. "We've gotta get out of here, now!" He continued, grabbing hold of Ginny's hand and ushering everyone out of the tent.

When I stepped out of the tent, the scene was worse than I had imagined. Hundreds of tents were on fire, the sky was dark and smoky, and witches and wizards were running in every direction, screaming. Spells were flying around their heads, I grabbed on to my brother's arm and took out my wand, I'd be damned if I let anyone hurt him.

"Get to the Port key!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "And stick together!" Everyone but Harry ran, staring at the carnage happening around us, he was rooted to the ground.

"Harry, come on!" I yelled, pulling on his arm, running over to where Hermione had paused to wait for us. They ran by groups of wizards in tall, black, pointy hats, long robes and skull face masks. It was one of the most terrifying outfits that I had ever seen. Caught in our fearful stare at the men in masks, we did not realize that we had been separated from the group just enough that the flow of other people around us pulled us away from our friends. It was just Harry and me now, on our own, with no idea where to go.

"Hold my hand and don't let go. We can't be separated or we won't make it." I said to my brother. He looked at me and nodded.

"Always together." He confirmed. However, as much as we tried to stay together, the stampede behind and in front of us only grew, tossing us around and breaking their grip. Harry fell to the ground, they were separated. I tried to reach my brother but I was slowly being carried away by the stampede.

"HARRY!" I yelled as he was kicked in the head knocking him unconscious. My fear spiked, feeling his distress and pain, as I watched him lay face first in the mud. Finally, with a burst of adrenaline, I screamed, fighting my way through the crowd of wizards, pushing them out of the way if necessary to get to my brother. I threw herself over his unconscious form, trying to protect him from further injury. In doing so, I opened myself up to the pains of being kicked. You'd think even in a stampede people would avoid kicking two children who were on the ground, but that was apparently not the case. And so, like my brother, I received a swift foot to the head, and I too fell unconscious. My last thought being that this really was not my best plan.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My head throbbed when I first came back into consciousness. Why did my head hurt so much? I had a hard time remembering what had happened to me… and why was I was laying on something that was moving?

"Harry!" I exclaimed, my vision snapping back in to focus and scrambling to get off my brother's back. I heard him let out a small groan.

"Harry are you alright?" I asked, rolling my brother on to his back. He blinked blearily up at me, his hand going to rub at his head. Both of us looked around. It had gotten dark, the bright moon lighting up the sky and a thick mist had settled on the ground.

"Were you laying on me?" He asked.

"Well I was only trying to not get you stomped on any more than you already were but –" I trailed off, hearing the sounds of someone moving nearby. I didn't want to risk shouting out in case it wasn't someone friendly.

"Shh!" I whispered, putting a finger up to my mouth. Harry stilled in his spot on the ground, both of us looking towards the area where we had heard the noises. We watched in silence as a figure, one without a cloak like those that we had seen earlier, raised his wand and shouted a spell that neither of us had heard before.

"Morsmordre!" The man said, pointing his wand at the sky. A blue light shot from the end of his wand, flying high up into the sky and exploding into a large green skull with a snake slithering out from its jaw. It was horrifying and chilled me to my bones. Harry was not looking at the mark, and instead staring at the man who had cast it as if trying to figure out who he was. The man looked over their way and started to walk towards them. Bullocks.

We both scrambled to get up. We held hands, even though there was no more stampede of people, we didn't want to be separated again, and ducked behind a burnt up tent. I took out my wand, getting ready to fire a bunch of spells when I heard a faint voice.

"Harry, Jacky, where are you?" The voice called. It took me a moment to realize that it was Ron. I had never been so glad to hear his voice in her life.

"Harry! Jacky!" Hermione yelled. Even better! No offence to Ron, but Hermione was quite a lot bit better with spells and would be much more useful if it came down to a fight. I peered out from behind the tent and noticed that the man was walking away, most likely having been scared off by our friends.

"He's leaving." I told Harry. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"We've been looking for you for ages!" Ron exclaimed upon finding us, Harry had a hard time taking his eyes off the form of the man running away. "We thought we'd lost you, mate."

Hermione ran up along with Ron and pulled me into a tight embrace. "We're so glad you're okay, we were so worried." She said. I hugged her back, starting to feel a little safer.

"What's that?" Ron asked, looking at the skull and snake in the sky. Upon looking up Harry suddenly grunted in pain, clutching at his scar. Before I had the chance to ask if he was alright, the commanding voices of many wizards and witches yelled, "Stupefy!"

Harry grabbed all of us and brought us down to a crouch, bright red flashes of the spell exploding over our heads. So much for being safe.

"THAT'S MY SON!" Came the much-needed voice of Mr. Weasley. I looked over to the ginger man charging towards us and pushing a wizard out of his way. I felt a strong love for the man at that moment, he was the kind of father I wished Harry and I had had.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, Jacky, are you alright?" He asked urgently.

"We went searching for Harry and Jacky." Ron gave as a weak excuse.

Another man, in a large bowler hat, ran over, his wand still out.

"Which of you conjured it!" He exclaimed. "You were discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Crouch, they're just kids!" Mr. Weasley said. I had to agree, how could this grown man think a couple of 14-year-olds were capable of doing, this serious crime he was accusing them of?

"Could you please get your wand out of our faces?" I asked, my voice dripping with disdain. Mr. Crouch eyed me warily but seemed to come to his senses and lowered his wand.

"Crime? What crime?" Harry asked. I wanted to slap my hand over my face to hide my exasperation at my brother's lack of awareness but decided it was not an appropriate time.

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry, it's his mark." Hermione explained.

"Voldemort." Harry said, the adults looking uneasy at his mention of You-Know-Who's name. Sometimes, I swore that he says Voldemort's name just to make people uncomfortable. Not that I minded the name Voldemort and would say it as brazenly as my brother, I just felt there were certain situations where you should not. For example; situations where a bunch of wizards were pointing wands their wands at our faces, was not a time where I would use a word that could upset them.

"Those people tonight, in the masks, their his too, aren't they? His followers" He asked. Mr. Weasley nodded his head.

"Death Eaters." Mr. Weasley said, addressing Mr. Crouch. Suddenly, I connected the dots. I had heard mention of Death Eaters before. There were a few people in my year whose parents had been Death Eaters. Theodore Nott, one of my best friend's father was a Death Eater. He had described the outfits and the symbol before. I was kicking myself for not recognizing this beforehand, tonight could have gone much worse than I had originally thought, had any of the Death Eaters gotten a hold of my brother.

"Follow me." Mr. Crouch said, turning to walk away.

"There was a man, before." Harry piped up. "There." He said pointing in the direction the mystery man had run off in.

"All of you, this way!" Mr. Crouch said, before him and his group of wizards ran off.

"A man, Harry? Who?" Mr. Weasley asked. Harry and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"No idea." I said.

"We didn't see his face." Harry added.

With the Dark Mark still looming overhead, we departed the now barren wasteland of the Quidditch World Cup Stadium tent field.

I had four days until we were to go back to Hogwarts. All of us were bristling with excitement at what our future would hold. I was excited to see my Slytherin friends again. Tracey Davis and Theodore Nott had been my friends since First Year. They were the only two other people in my house who were truly nice to me. We always had each other backs, and I hoped would continue to do so.

The day before the train ride, Harry and I were laying in the grass outside of the Burrow, enjoying the sun.

"What do you think it would have been like to grow up with mom and dad?" I asked, turning my head to look at my twin.

"Better than the Dursley's that's for sure." Harry said, with a chuckle.

"I imagine it would involve real bedrooms, not living under the stairs, or being treated as if we were worse than dirt." Jacky said, "The Weasley's really got it all when it comes to family. Sometimes I feel a little jealous." I admitted. Harry shrugged.

"At least we have a big family now. We may not have been with them for the first 11 years of our lives, but we aren't alone anymore. And besides, we always had each other." Harry said with a smile.

"You really are such an optimistic Gryffindor." I said, shoving my brother lightly.

"And you're a cynical Slytherin but you don't see me making fun of you for it." Harry said, his sassy attitude coming out.

"Hey!" I protested, but to my brother's credit, he was right. I had much more of a negative attitude than my twin. It may have been in part due to me taking the brunt of the Dursleys torture, trying to save my brother from the worst of it, or maybe it was that I was surrounded by cynical people all year in my house. It could also be a mix of both. Nothing I could or really cared to change now

We laid there in silence for a few moments, fantasizing about what our life would have been like had we been raised by our mom and dad.

"If only Sirius was here, then this would be complete." I said. I missed our Godfather so much. He had written to us all summer, going by the name Snuffles so no one would know it was him. I really hoped that we would get to see him again soon.

"I miss him too, but I'm sure we will see him again." Harry said.

"There we go again with the optimism!" I laughed.

"You should try it sometime." Harry said, in a serious tone, I looked at her brother and was surprised to see a worried look on his face. "Sometimes I think you are sadder than you let on. I want you to be happy."

It's hard when I can feel another person's distress. Having felt his fear while running for their lives at the Quidditch World Cup, I knew all too well the toll it took on my mental health. However, that was not the only reason. I could never understand how he was able to take the trauma of living with the Dursleys. How he never seemed to be bothered by the times that we had been thrown under the stairs, Uncle Vernon often left bruises on our arms when he did that. Or just the way that they spoke to us like we were the two worst people on the face of this planet. It really got to me after thirteen years of living with them.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine, just up to my Slytherin ways." I said cheekily. We both laughed and went quiet. I loved the time when it was just us, being regular siblings and simply enjoying each other's company.

"Do you remember when we used to sneak into the kitchen at night and eat some of their sweets? Not enough for them to notice, but enough for us to enjoy it." I asked. Harry laughed.

"Of course! How could I forget? Or that one time where we took big pieces of chocolate cake and they definitely did notice. They were so angry we were locked in the cupboard for a whole week! Really it wasn't much of a punishment cause that meant we didn't have to deal with the Dursleys." Harry said, smiling at the memory.

"You've got a point there." I said. Both of us sat in silence, memories of our past flooding my mind. I secretly wished for simpler times, yet knew deep down they would not come for a long time, if ever again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tracey! Theo!" I exclaimed, having found my friends in a compartment on the Hogwarts express.

"Jacky!" They both exclaimed, getting up out of their seats to hug me.

"My dad told me about what happened at the Quidditch World Cup. Are you okay?" Tracey said, looking at me with concern as I sat down next to her. I shrugged.

"I've had worse." I said. It had been traumatic, but when was something not traumatic happening to the Potter twins?

"Though I did see the guy who put up the Dark Mark in the sky." I said. Theo froze.

"Who was it?" Theo asked, his voice sounding worried. I gave him a quizzical look.

"No idea, why?" I asked. Theo seemed to relax a little, though his eyes darted to the open compartment door.

"My dad wasn't home that night, I worry that he was there. I told you guys he used to be a Death Eater, right?" He admitted in a whisper, still seeming a little uneasy. My face softened in sympathy and we nodded.

"From the pictures I've seen of your dad and you, it wasn't him, much too thin and tall." I reassured him.

"Maybe he was just out with friends or something." Tracey offered.

"That's what I'm worried about." Theo said. We shared concerned looks before Tracey changed the subject.

"On a happier note, I hear that the Tri-Wizard tournament is coming to Hogwarts this year." Tracey said.

"The what?" I asked. I'd never heard of the Tri-Wizard Tournament before, but that was not surprising, there was still so much about the wizarding world that I had yet to discover.

"It's this big tournament where three schools pick a champion from each school and then those champions compete in a bunch of really dangerous tasks." Tracey explained.

"Oh god, I hope my brother doesn't get picked. That's the last thing we need." I said exasperatedly. Tracey and Theo gave each other a knowing look. My brow furrowed.

"What was that look?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing, just that, whether or not your brother means it, he seems to always be in the spotlight. Which often involves trouble. And then that means that you have to risk your neck to get him out of it." Theo said, trying his best to not sound accusatory. I sighed.

"You're right, I just wish that we could have one normal year." I said.

"Normal, like you could ever be normal, Potter." Came a voice from the doorway. I looked up and groaned. Draco Malfoy had stopped in front of the compartment door.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to eavesdrop, Malfoy." I said, glaring at him.

"Didn't anyone tell you I don't care?" He retorted. We locked eyes, glaring at each other before Malfoy looked away.

"I hope your summer went well, Theo." Malfoy said, ignoring the glare that I was still giving him.

"It was, I'll see you in the dormitory later?" Theo asked. Malfoy nodded and glared one more time at me before leaving. Tracey got up and closed the compartment door.

"When will you admit that all that glaring leads to sexual tension?" She teased. I choked.

"Leads to what?" I asked incredulously. Tracey shrugged.

"Really seemed like you were getting lost in those silver-blue eyes of his." Tracey teased, Theo snickered.

"Was not!" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest, feeling my cheeks blush. My friends giggled at my embarrassment. It had always been like this between us, both throwing insults at each other and a lot of glaring. Tracey had brought it up before, but I always shut her down. There was no way that Malfoy liked me and I definitely did not like him. I didn't like Malfoy, not only was he a prat who thought he was better than everyone, but he was always making fun of my brother and making our lives much harder. I would never like him, that I was sure of. No amount of glaring and teasing could ever get me to like that prat of a Malfoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Let me know in the reviews! I will reply to all! The more you review the faster I put up chapters!


	2. The Tri-Wizard Tournament

I plunked myself down at the Slytherin table beside Theo and Tracey. We had just come back from watching the two new schools arrive. The table was buzzing with excited chatter.

"Those horses were so cool! Who knew they could have wings like that?" Tracey said, her eyes shining with excitement.

"I'm pretty sure those were Pegasus, Tracey." I pointed out. How did Tracey not know what Pegasus were, she may have been a half-blood but she did grow up around magic. Tracey thought for a moment.

"You know, that would make a lot of sense." She said with a laugh. I shook my head in exasperation but couldn't help let a small smile creep up on my face. I love Tracy, but she can be quite oblivious.

"Maybe you were a little distracted by a certain someone." Theo said, nudging Tracey with his elbow. Her face went instantly red. It was common knowledge that Tracey had a crush on fifth-year Slytherin, Adrian Pucey, who she just so happened to be standing behind while watching the new schools make their grand entrances. She had never said anything, but her pinning and constant chatter about him gave her secret away.

"Shut up, Theo!" She hissed in a whisper, her eyes narrowing playfully. She stuck her tongue out at him. Theo stuck his tongue back out at her.

"Ya, Theo, shut up. No one can know about my pathetic crush." Mocked a whiny voice across the table from us. I closed my eyes, willing myself to have enough patience to deal with the owner of that bloody awful voice, Pansy Parkinson. We had never gotten along, in fact, we hate each other. We had been at each other's throats since I first started here at Hogwarts. Parkinson was always putting me and Tracey down for our blood status and I was putting her down for her pug face. I was definitely winning in that scenario.

"Parkinson, how lovely to hear your shrill voice again." I said sarcastically. Parkinson sneered at me and then looked at Malfoy who had just walked up and stood beside her.

"Are you going to let her speak to me like that, Dracky-poo?" She said, her voice becoming even more of a whine, something I didn't think was even possible. Malfoy looked between us with a bored look on his face. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, did she really think that he was going to say anything to help this situation?

" I don't really care what you say to each other, Parkinson." He said, sitting down beside Crabbe and Goyle who had unfortunately taken to sitting across from my friends and I. Parkinson and Malfoy had been an on and off fling for most of last year. Their fighting then snogging in the common room had been the bane of my existence last year, Pug-face Parkinson swallowing Malfoy's face whole was not what she wanted to see on a daily occasion, it was rather revolting. With Malfoy's comment, I would without a doubt say that they were on an 'off' stint.

I mimed crying, rubbing my fists at my eyes, and sticking my bottom lip out in a pout. Parkinson crossed her arms over her chest defensively, turning around to leave, before turning back to face me.

"I was hoping you'd have run off with that convict Godfather of yours by now, living like the savages you are. It seems I was disappointed." Parkinson said haughtily. I clenched my hands into fists. If there was one thing I did not tolerate, it was insults against my family. Before I could retort another cold insult, Dumbledore got up on the podium. Parkinsons gave me a look like she knew that she had won. For now.

"I'd like to make an announcement." Dumbledore said as he stood in front of the Great Hall. Everyone quieted down, the Headmaster had the best command of all the students, no matter what he was able to make a bunch of teenagers stop chatting, which was by no means an easy feat.

"This castle will not be only your home this year," He continued. "but home to some very special guests as well." As he started to speak, the doors to the Great Hall opened, Mr. Filtch, Hogwarts's caretaker came running through. Well, running may have been a bit of a stretch. He ran, puffing like he'd just run six laps around the castle, and bringing his knees almost the whole way up to his chest. It was like someone who had only been told what running looked like, trying to run for the first time.

"You see, Hogwarts has been chosen," Dumbledore said, pausing as Mr. Filtch got up to the podium to whisper something in his ear. There were murmurs in the crowd, a couple of students giggling.

"What do you think he's saying?" Tracey asked. I shrugged, when did Filtch ever say anything worth listening to?

"Maybe something to do with the other schools." I offered.

"So," Dumbledore started again as Mr. Filtch ran out of the Great Hall. "Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Tri-Wizard tournament." Excited chatter filled the hall. I looked over to the Gryffindor table, looking at the Weasley twins who were already scheming. I did not doubt that they would enter, if anyone had a knack for getting themselves in trouble, it would be those two.

Dumbledore began to explain the rules. Three schools would compete, one student from each would be selected, and they would compete in dangerous contest. I knew that there was no way this would not involve my brother. Even if he didn't enter, this tournament was too large and important to sit out Harry Potter. He was always roped into these sorts of dangerous adventures and I am not excited for all the future arse saving I was going to have to do.

"Please join me in welcoming, the lovely ladies' of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and their Headmistress, Madame Maxime." Dumbledore said, and with a sweep of his hands, the doors to the Great Hall opened. In walked a bunch of beautiful girls in stunning blue robes. They walked with lady-like dignity. Everyone gasped as they walked in, many seemed stunned by their beauty. The girls sighed as they walked by, gently moving their arm towards the rows of students. They pranced to the front of the hall, sighing one last time, and releasing a group of magical bluebirds that sang beautifully as they finished their entrance. Many of the girls scowled or rolled their eyes, but it would seem many of the boys were intrigued. I looked over to Theo who's jaw had actually dropped open, his eyes almost shining.

"Better shut that mouth before you catch one of those birds, Nott." I said. Theo's face became red and he closed his mouth, embarrassed at the trance the Beauxbatons ladies put him in. I had to admit, it was a stylish entrance, but I couldn't help but wonder how this kind of delicate magic was supposed to help them win this tournament or make them look like competitors to be reckoned with. I was not trembling in my boots after watching a bunch of pretty magic. I hoped for their sake that they knew more tactical forms of magic.

After the Beauxbatons girls came in, in came their Headmistress, the was the tallest woman I had ever seen. She walked with dignity and held herself up in a way that made you know that she was important. Dumbledore gave her a kiss on the hand, absolutely dwarfed by her tall stature, and walked back up to the podium.

"And now our friend's from the North, please welcome, the proud sons of Durmstrang, and their Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff." He bellowed. Marching forward through the door came a group of strong-looking men. They were wearing large fur-lined coats, fur hats, and the boys in the front held large staffs. They chanted as they marched forward, smacking their staffs against the ground, creating sparks. All the girls in the hall had their eyes glued to gruff-looking boys. Their aggressive displays of manhood had many people intrigued. Me being one of those people. There was just something that I could not deny was attractive about their display of testosterone. It seems as though they may be stronger competitors than Beauxbatons, just based off of sheer brute strength.

As I was lost in my thoughts of strong men, people started to murmur again. Walking through the door with a greasy looking man that I assumed was the Headmaster, strolled none other than the Bulgarian Quidditch Team Seeker, Victor Krum.

"That's Victor Krum." I said in astonishment, I had no idea that he was young enough to still be in school.

"No need to point out the obvious, Potter, surprised you even recognized him from your nosebleed seats." Malfoy said with a sneer.

"Bite me." I growled back, a little angrier than I had meant to. There was only so much Malfoy that I could deal with at once, after not having seen him for two months, I needed more time to get used to his prat-like ways. His eyes widened in surprise for a moment but he turned around, a sneer still on his face, not saying anything else.

As the headmaster got up to the front of the Great Hall, one of the boys used his wand to create a flaming phoenix that flourished in front of Dumbledore before disappearing. The Headmasters hugged, and the newcomers got settled in. The opening feast began and I dug in. While being at the Weasley's had helped me put on more weight after summer, I was still not where I wanted to be. My ribs were still protruding out and all I wanted was to eat as much food as I could stuff in my face. Malfoy looked mildly disgusted at how fast I was eating, but I couldn't have cared less, there was nothing quite as great as a Hogwarts feast. Tracey and Theo never judged me, they were the only ones in Slytherin House who knew how the Dursley's treated me and Harry over the summer, and never seemed to mind me stuffing my face at the beginning of every year.

After dessert was over, four men dressed in all black carried a huge golden case over to the front of the Great Hall.

"Your attention, please." Dumbledore said, cutting over the noise of the students, and walking over to stand beside the golden case.

"I'd like to say a few words." He said. "Eternal glory that's what awaits the student that wins the tri-wizard tournament, but to do this the student must survive three tasks, three extremely dangerous tasks." Dumbledore paused for emphasis. I felt a feeling of dread. If Dumbledore thought that they were dangerous, then there was no doubt that these tasks would be terrifying.

"For this reason, the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magical cooperation Mr. Bartimus Crouch." Dumbledore said, looking towards the man who was coming out from behind the teacher's table. It was the man who had accused us of putting the Dark Mark in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup. I narrowed my eyes, I had a suspicious feeling that he would only cause more trouble for Harry and me. After all, the first time that we met was with him throwing stupefy curses at our heads.

Before Crouch could walk up to the podium, the sky of the Great Hall started to crackle with electricity. Suddenly, lightning was flashing across the ceiling and thunder was roaring. Many students ducked for cover under the table or put their hands over their heads to try to protect themselves. I ducked her head, shooting a panicked look to Theo and Tracey who had done the same as me. Across the table, Parkison launched herself at Malfoy, who shoved her off, making her fall under the table. I couldn't help but snicker.

From the opposite corner as Crouch a purple, spiral, spell shot out and into the enchanted ceiling. From that spell, the clouds that had formed stopped and the lightning and thunder disappeared. We were safe again if we had ever truly been in danger. While I did feel safe in this castle, it had so many different dangers that sometimes I was amazed at how it was still allowed to run.

When I looked over to the corner that the spell had come from, there stood a wizard that I had never seen before. He had shaggy, ginger hair, a dirty leather coat, and most interesting of all was the eye that was strapped to his face, which swizzled all around as if he could see in all directions.

Whispers broke out around us again. Everyone seemed to be interested in this new strange figure.

"That's Alistair Moody." Theo said in a whisper. "He's an Auror, he's one of the best at catching dark wizards. My father hates him, says he's a crazy old man who doesn't know what he's doing anymore."

He walked forward, limping as he went. It seemed that he had a metal leg on his left side. I had a feeling that it was because of all the dark wizards he had apparently chased.

Dumbledore greeted Moody with a clasp to the forearm. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but they looked like old friends. When they broke apart, Moody went to the side of the room, turned around, took a flask out of his pocket and drank it, shivering as he turned back around to face the students.

"What do you reckon he's drinking?" Tracey asked.

"I dunno," I said, feeling very suspicious all of a sudden. I could tell it was from Harry, he must have seen the odd way in which Moody reacted to his drink too. "But I don't think it's pumpkin juice." Harry must have said that, it was almost as if the words echoed in my brain. I looked over to my twin at the Gryffindor table, he had just turned around to look at me. We both nodded, acknowledging that we needed to keep an eye on this new wizard.

Crouch came to stand in front of the golden case, Dumbledore standing behind him.

"After due consideration," Crouch began, holding his arms out and rubbing his fingers together. What on earth was he doing? "For their own safety, any student under the age of seventeen shall be able to put forth their name for the Tri-Wizard tournament. This decision is final!" He finished with a yell but I could hardly hear him over the yelling and protests by most of the underage student population. I let out a sigh of relief, unlike the other students, I was happy. This meant that Harry, my friends, and I would be safe from the Tri-Wizard tournament tasks.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed. The Great Hall instantly quieted down. Without saying another word, Dumbledore brought his wand up, and slowly brought it back down beside the golden case. It slowly started to fade away, revealing a large, grey stone goblet. As soon as it was revealed, the goblet started to spout a large blue flame.

"A Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night." Dumbledore explained, a serious tone to his voice. "Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back. The Tri-Wizard tournament has begun."

I stared at the blue flame, wondering what sort of horrors it would bring to Hogwarts this year.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I yawned as I arrived at Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I hadn't had enough sleep the night before and it was the last class of the day. I stayed up almost all of the night before, fearing for our future. While I knew that no one in my year could enter the tournament, it did not stop me from thinking of all the other possibly dangerous scenarios. What if the tasks got out of control? What if they were used to hurt the school? Who knew what was going to happen.

I sat down beside Tracey in the second row. Theo and Lily Moon. This was one of our classes with the Gryffindors and you could feel the hate in the room. My brother hated most of my housemates. He got along with Tracey and Theo well enough, but to him, the rest of my house were villains. While I wasn't a huge fan of a good chunk of Slytherins, there were plenty of people I didn't mind. Lily Moon and Daphne Greengrass, for example, were not awful people. They could be a little stuck up in their pure-blood status, but otherwise, they were enjoyable to be around. It was a source of tension between me and my brother, he had to be careful about what he said about Slytherin around me. It wasn't like all Gryffindors are perfect either. Seamus Finnigan drove me up the wall. There has never been a boy more able to explode potions, not only on himself but on those around him. I still held a grudge from Second Year when his potion of healing exploded black dust in my face. It was almost impossible to get out of my curly and knotted hair.

"All right class!" Allistar Moody bellowed from the front of the class. "Allister Moody, ex-Auror, Ministry malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." I scrunched my nose.

"Not starting off too hot with that third-person introduction." I whispered to Tracey. She gave me a wide-eyed look that said shut up and stop bashing the teacher. Since she hadn't outright said it, I was going to disregard that look and say what I wanted.

"I am here because Dumbledore asked me. That's it, that's the story, goodbye, the end." Professor Moody said with an air of finality that no one dared to go against.

"Any questions?" He asked. The room was silent. "When it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I believe in a practical approach." People looked at each other, we've had so many different Defense teachers that it was impossible to know what sort of crazy class Moody had in store for us.

"But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?" He asked the class. I had heard of these curses. They were used by Dark witches and wizards to torture, control, and kill people. I only knew the name of one, Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. It had been used to kill my parents and it is what Voldemort had tried to use on Harry that same night.

"Three, sir." Hermione said, her voice sounding tight like this was not a subject that she approved of.

"And they are so named?" Moody asked, turning around to write on the chalkboard. I looked at Hermione again. Her fists were curled into balls beside her, her knuckles went white. Her lips were pursed into a tight line. Yes, this was not a subject she wanted to learn about.

"Because they are unforgivable." She said, her voice wavering in anger. "Any one of them will earn you a-" She went on, but Moody cut her off. This guy was really starting to get on my nerves. Sure, sometimes Hermione can ramble on, but this time she wasn't. She was clearly uncomfortable and he had cut her off. I glared at Moody's turned back.

"A one-way ticket to Azkaban. Correct." Moody said with a growl, smacking the chalk against the board to punctuate his words.

"Now the Minister said that you are too young to see what these curses do, I say otherwise!" He said. I blanched, were we going to see the Unforgivable curses. Surely he was not going to show a bunch of fourteen-year-olds how to kill each other?

"You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, and you need to find another place to put your chewing gum beside the underside of your desk Mr. Finnegan!" Moody bellowed. I snickered, maybe this professor wasn't that bad. Seamus' face had just gone beat red, having just been caught in the act of sticking his gum to the bottom of his desk.

"Ah, no way. The old cotter can see out the back of his head." Seamus said, loudly enough that the whole room heard it. What an idiot. Moody whipped around and threw a piece of chalk at his head.

"And hear across classrooms!" He yelled. I don't think anyone will be messing with Moody after this display.

"So," He said with a low drawl. "Which curse should we see first?" He scanned the room, picking a student to answer the question. No one raised their hand.

"Weasley!" Moody barked. Ron looked like he might pee his pants.

"Yes?" He answered, looking at Moody in fear. For all the adventure that Ron had been on, it still surprised me that he could be afraid of so many things.

"Stand." Moody commanded. Ron slowly got up, not wanting to meet his professor's eyes. "Give us a curse."

"Well, my Dad did tell me about one. The Imperius Curse." Ron said, his voice wavering at the end with uncertainty.

"Oh, yes. Your father would know all about that, gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago." Moody said, his voice low and scratchy, he sounded more intrigued than any of the students looked. "Perhaps this will show you why."

Moody moved to one of his glass containers from the front of the class. He opened the lid and put his hand in. A medium-sized spider crawled on to his hands. And he cast engorgio, making the spider grow at least three times the size it was. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't hate spiders. I was so used to them when living in the cupboard under the stairs, they would fall on our faces when Dudley jumped down the stairs. However, I was not used to spiders that size and it made me lean back as if I could get away from it.

Tracey jumped back and grabbed my arm.

"Ew, it's so large." She hissed at me. I had to agree.

"Imperio." Moody hissed, pointing his wand at the spider. The spider squealed and curled in on itself a little. I almost felt bad for it. The Unforgivable Curses are said to be awful, but then again it was a large gross spider so I was not upset.

Moody used his wand to control the spider, moving it from his hand to the desk in front of him, causing the two Gryffindor boys sitting there to jump back. From there the spider flew right onto Crabbe's face. Crabbe cried out in panic, waving his hands around like he wanted to rip it off but was too afraid to touch it.

"Don't worry, it's completely harmless!" Moody said with a joyful as flung the spider from Crabbe onto Pavarti Patil's hand, making it crawl up her arm. She started hyperventilating, not wanting to touch it as Crabbe had also not wanted to do but unsure of how to get it off her.

"This is amazing!" Theo said from behind Tracey and me.

"As long as it doesn't come near me!" Lily said, looking very grossed out at the whole ordeal.

"I second that." Tracey said. We watched, laughing as the spider moved right above Ron's head, moving its feet like it was dancing. Ron whimpered, his biggest fear was spiders so that must just feel like a regular nightmare to him.

"But when she bites, she's lethal!" Moody said, laughing hysterically. For someone teaching children, it seemed that he took much more of an interest in torturing them. Though I was laughing as well so I really couldn't blame him.

His head swivelled to the other side of the room, his eyes settling on Malfoy.

"What are you looking at?" He said threateningly, throwing the spider directly on to his face. Now that was something I could get behind. If anyone deserved to be taken down a peg, it was Malfoy. I couldn't stop laughing as Malfoy panicked, turning to his useless sidekick Goyle and yelled.

"Get it off!"

Goyle started flailing his limbs at the spider, scared to hit Malfoy in the face.

"I think he deserved that.." I said, conviction in my voice. Tracey nodded but could not stop laughing to respond to me.

"Talented, isn't she? What should I have her do next? Jump out the window?" Moody said, flicking the spider towards the open classroom window, smacking it against a magnifying glass. The laughter stopped immediately. All the students in the room sobered up and the atmosphere became serious again. We had suddenly remembered that this was not a simple charm. That this curse was dark and was used for death. This was no longer a game.

"Drown herself?" He continued, dangling the once again squealing spider. Its legs dipped in the water and it struggled against Moody's hold on it. Moody gently brought the spider back in his hand, once again looking out as his now, stone-faced students.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse." Moody continued. "But here's the problem, how do we sort out the liars?" No one answered, no one knew. Tracey looked at me with wide eyes, I don't think that this was what she was expecting for our first day back to school. I don't think it was anyone's.

"Another." Moody commanded again. "Come on." At the front of the class, Neville Longbottom raised his hand shakily.

"Longbottom, is it? Up." Moody asked, but waited for no confirmation. He already knew who Neville was. "Professor Sprout tells me that you have an aptitude for Herbology."

Neville nodded slightly, looking like he was going to be sick. "There's the - um -the Cruciatus curse."

"Correct, correct! Come, come!" Moody said excitedly, motioning for Neville to get closer to the desk he had placed the spider down on. I'd heard of this curse before. It was the torture curse. It made my stomach churn to wonder why our Professor was so excited to torture a spider. Had he used this curse before? Or was he excited to try it for the first time? I guessed that this was not the first time.

"The torture curse. Crucio!" He grunted. The spider shrunk back against the pain, screeching a horrible high pitched sound. Beside me, Tracey plugged her ears and turned away. Neville's face contorted in pain, staring at the spider with horror but unable to look away. We all watched as the spider screamed and wiggled around.

"Stop it!" Hermione yelled, finally breaking the silence among the students. "Can't you see it's bothering him, stop it!"

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, broken out of my horrified trance by Hermione. "You're hurting him!"

Moody looked up, as though he had been lost in concentration on his spell. He looked from Hermione to me, to Neville, before relinquishing his hold on the spider. Neville stood stock still at the front of the class, not able to move. I felt bad for the guy, I vaguely remembered Harry telling me his parents had been hospitalized by the Cruciatus curse and that is why he lives with his Grandma. Moody down my row of desks, stopping when he saw me. He placed the spider down on my desk. I watched the spider, clearly still in leftover pain. I knew what Moody was about to ask and I felt tears prick at my eyes. I tried hard to keep them at bay, I couldn't let all of Gryffindor and Slytherin see me cry.

"Perhaps you can tell us the last Unforgivable Curse, Miss Potter. I believe you would know it." Moody said. I could feel my chin tremble, and I felt Tracey grab my hand below the table. I looked over at my friend who squeezed my hand and gave me a quick nod.

"You can do this." She said with a whisper. I looked back at Moody.

"The Killing Curse." I said, my voice breaking. I didn't want to see that curse. It was responsible for killing my parents and all the hardship that my brother and I had to endure. I squeezed Tracey's hand for comfort when Moody spoke.

"Avada Kedavra."

There was a flash of green light that seemed to take up my entire vision, the surrounding sounds going mute. I felt like I was in a dream as I watched the spider die and a part of my memory reawakened. It happened in a flash, my mom's horrified scream and a bolt of green light flying towards my brother.

I sucked in a breath, my heart feeling like it was going to fly out of my chest. I had never heard my mom before, I didn't have any memories of that night like Harry did. Now I knew what he was talking about and God was it horrible. I felt the hot tears leak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I didn't listen to anything else Moody said, the world seemed silent as I stood up in a panic, trying to process my new memory and scraping my chair against the ground. I felt all the eyes in the room land on me and vaguely heard a worried sounding male voice say my name.

"Potter?" I was in such a panic I couldn't tell who the voice belonged to, but I didn't care I needed to get out of this classroom before everyone thought I was crazier than I looked.

I turned on my heel and ran out of the classroom. It was too much, my eyes ringing with the sound of my mother's scream and my vision blurred by tears and the memory of that awful green light. I ran until I couldn't anymore, stopping in a hallway. I didn't know where I was and at that point, I didn't care.

How did Harry carrying this burden for so many years alone? I thought I had wanted to hear my mother, but I didn't realize that I never wanted this. I wish I could take it back, forget what my brain had decided to dredge up, though I knew I could not. That image and that sound would be burned into my brain forever.

I don't know how long I spent alone in the corridor before I heard quick footsteps coming towards me. I had stopped crying by that point but I didn't lookup. I couldn't bring myself to face whoever it was, especially if it was a stranger.

"Jacky?" The person asked. I felt relief as they put their hand on my shoulder and crouched down beside me. I would recognize that voice anywhere, it was the only person who would truly understand.

"Harry?" I croaked, lifting my head to look at my twin. He was looking at me with concerned eyes, one hand gently on my shoulder, and the other one wrapped around the Marauder's Map.

"So that's how you found me." I said, trying to laugh but it came out flat. He gave me a sad smile.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "What happened." I bowed my head and shook it, not sure what to say.

"How do you do it? I can't even handle it for a moment." I asked he looked unsure, not understanding what I was saying.

"How do you remember mom's scream as she died and still be able to function? And it's not like you've only heard it once, you've heard it many times. And that bright flash of green light as it flies at your face, oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." I said, tears starting to pour from my eyes again.

"It's okay, Jacky. I'm used to it." He said with a shrug, but I could tell he was lying. I narrowed my eyes at him and he sighed. He sat down against the wall with me, moving his arm so that it was now around my shoulder, bringing me in for a sideways hug. It was nice, reminiscent of days in the cupboard where we only had each other for comfort.

"It's hard," Harry began, trying to find the words to say. "And it never really hurts less. I just know that mom and dad wouldn't want us to be stuck dwelling on their deaths and I try to get on with my life."

I nodded against his shoulder.

"I guess you're right." I sighed.

"Of course I am." Harry said with renewed sass. "I'm always right."

I barked out a laugh and looked up at his face to see the cheeky smile resting there. As much as I was always trying to save my brother from physical harm, it occurred to me that he was always trying to save me from emotional harm.

"Besides, we'll always have each other. Together forever right?" Harry said.

"Together forever, you aren't going to be getting rid of me that easily." I said, repeating the saying. It was a common one among us twins when the other was upset. We had always had each other and we always would if I had anything to say about it.

After a long pause, I spoke up.

"Can we just stay here for a bit?" I asked. "I don't want to face Parkinson and the relentless teasing I'm sure is waiting for me in the common room."

"However long you need." Harry replied, squeezing my shoulder. I relaxed against my brother and slowly started to feel a little better. As long as I had Harry on my side, I would always be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there wasn't a lot of Malfoy but I'm just trying to establish Jacky's character first.
> 
> Please review! I know it doesn't seem like it would really help but it does!
> 
> What do you guys think of Jacky?
> 
> Who do you think said her name when she ran away?
> 
> What do you think is gonna happen?
> 
> Let me know!


	3. The Champion

Chapter 3  
“Miss Potter, what do you think you are doing, sitting with Miss Davis?” Snape asked in a low voice. Everyone in the class turned to look at me. I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment. Not only were my fellow Syltherin’s watching me be berated like a small child, but the Hufflepuffs as well. I had hoped that for one year I’d be able to sit with one of my friends for potions, however, I would be sorely disappointed. For the fourth year in a row, I was going to be forced to sit beside Malfoy.  
Malfoy was the best in our class at potions and was not at all humble about it. I, on the other hand, was the worst at potions in our class. It felt like every time that I tried to make a potion it either blew up or simply did not work.  
“But Professor, I’ve improved a lot since last year and Tracey is really good at potions -” I tried to argue but was cut off.  
“Then you’ll have to show me while sitting with your usual potions partner.” Snape said with an air of finality that I dared not go against. “Get up and go sit with Mr. Malfoy, I will decide when you have improved.”  
“I’ll see you after class.” Tracey said with a sympathetic smile. I got up with a sigh and walked over to where Malfoy was sitting. He had left the seat open as if he knew that I was going to be forced to sit with him once again. He gave me a smug smile before Snape started off the lesson. Today we were learning how to create a potion of healing. We would be using separate cauldrons but could help our desk partner out. From what I could tell the potion was simple. It only had four ingredients; a butterfly wing, a dried blue mountain flower, the root of a maple tree, and mint leaves. How could I mess up a potion this simple?  
We started off in silence, neither of us being ones to make pleasant small talk. I had my book open beside me and I was ready to ace this potion. I had done well in previous years with healing charms, so maybe I would do better with a healing potion. I was almost done when Malfoy pipped up from beside me.  
“You’re stirring the wrong way.” Malfoy said snidley from beside me. I guess sitting in silence was too much to ask for.  
“Am not.” I said, pretending like nothing happened and switching the direction I was stirring. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head exasperatedly. I was going to ignore that.  
“When it blows up in your face, try not to run away crying like you did in Moody’s Class.” He said with a sneer. I knew I shouldn’t have let that comment get to me, Malfoy and I got on each other’s nerves frequently. Yet this one hurt. It brought back memories I’d been trying to suppress since the incident. Memories of my mother’s scream, the last sound she would ever make before she died, and the horrible green light flashing towards me and my brother. I turned quickly, my glare red hot and angry. I was going to yell at him, my temper getting the better of me. How could he not understand that that had been traumatic? He knew what happened with my parents, why would seeing the curse that killed them and almost killed me and Harry not affect me?  
However, my plans to enact my revenge were faltered, by myself. I had turned too quickly and clumsily spilled the healing potion all over Malfoy’s lap. He yelped and bolted from his chair, a failed healing potion spilling onto the ground. The heads of every other student in the classroom swiveled to look at the commotion I had caused for the second time in a one hour class. Shite.  
Malfoy looked at me, surprise written across his face.  
“Miss Potter!” I heard Snape exclaim, walking towards us from his desk at the front of the classroom. I groaned. I was in trouble now.  
“What is going on here?” Snape said with an exasperated tone. He gave me a tired look like he had expected this to happen. I grinned sheepishly.  
“Malfoy - I - I don’t-” I stuttered, my ears burning in embarrassment.  
“Potter spilled her potion all over me.” Malfoy said, smirking at me. I sputtered indignantly, but couldn’t think of any argument, he was unfortunately right. Snape gave him a dark look that wiped that smirk off his face. At least Malfoy’s gloating had stopped momentarily.  
“Detention, this Saturday, Potter. You will do this potion for me again and this time learn to control your limbs.” Snape said. I glowered. It wasn’t totally my fault, if Malfoy hadn’t opened his big mouth I would never have gotten angry.  
“Professor please -” I started but there was no arguing with Snape.  
“Enough.” He said, cutting me off one more time. “You are lucky I don’t make you clean up this mess without magic as well.” He said, flicking his wand. The potion that was covering Malfoy and the floor effortlessly flew back into my cauldron.  
With that Snape walked away, leaving me to sit in my chair, beside the boy that I hated, staring at my failure of a potion. Would I ever learn?  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“And you’re sure you didn’t put your name in the Goblet of Fire?” I asked Harry as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I walked to the Great Hall. It was finally the end of the week. It had been a long first week back at Hogwarts. The professors were pilling on assignments and I had been incredibly anxious about the Tri-Wizard Tournament.  
“Come on Jacky, how many times do I have to say no before you believe me?” Harry said, rolling his eyes.  
“There’s no way he could, even if he wanted to. You heard about what happened to Fred and Goerge when they tried.” Hermione said  
“You’re always involved in the biggest troubles in this school Harry, you can’t blame me for worrying about how you’ll be involved in this one.” I said, wringing my hands.  
“Even Fred and George couldn’t trick that circle.” Ron offered. Some of my anxieties had been soothed when I saw that the age ring really did work. Watching Fred and George wrestle with full white beards and long white hair had been quite entertaining. There was just this feeling of dread I couldn’t shake. Something always went wrong, and it always involved my brother. How could I not be worried?  
“You’re right,” I said with a sigh. “I just have a bad feeling.”  
We walked into the Great Hall and sat down at a table. No one was sitting in their usual spots, students were crowded around tables, some even standing against the wall. I could see Tracey and Theo with our Slytherin year. I waved at them and Theo and Tracey waved back, Tracey, unlike Theo, was bouncing out of her seat with excitement. She had been talking non-stop about this event all week and her enthusiasm was evident on her face.  
“If everyone would please take their seats,” Dumbledore spoke, his voice echoing through the hall, causing all the students to quiet down. “And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the champion selection!”  
It was quiet, but I could feel the tension and excitement in the air. As Dumbledore waved his hand across the room, and the lights dimmed, we were bathed in the glowing blue light from the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore reached out towards the Goblet, placing both hands on it before backing away. As he did the Globet lit up in a bright red colour and spat out a small piece of parchment. Dumbledore deftly caught it and read out the name.  
“The Durmstrang Champion is Victor Krum!”  
Cheers rang out across the hall, everyone standing up and applauding for the Seeker. I cheered as well. He was a strong guy, I was curious to see how he would apply that to the tasks. He shook Dumbledore’s hand and was lead away from the crowd.  
Almost as soon as he was gone, the Goblet lit up a dazzling pink colour and spit out a delicate, gold-trimmed piece of parchment.  
“The Champion from Beauxbatons is - is Fleur Delecour!”  
The Beauxbatons girls cheered loudly for their classmate as a girl with beautiful silvery hair stood up from the crowd. She looked delicate, like a strong wind would snap her in half. I hopped for her sake that she was tougher than she looked. She smiled politely and walking to the front of the hall to follow after Krum.  
The final champion was about the be announced. The one from Hogwarts. I held my breath in anticipation, thinking to myself, please don’t be Harry. The goblet flames once again roared and spit out a piece of parchment. Dumbledore held the last name in his hands and read it out loud.  
“The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!”  
The hall erupted in cheers as Cedric stood up, a happy smile on his lips. People patted him on the back as he walked by. All I could do was let out a sigh of relief. At least Harry would be safe from being a Champion. That should help keep him out of trouble this year.  
“Told you so.” Harry said, nudging me with his elbow. I batted at him.  
“If you would stop getting yourself in trouble I would stop worrying about you.” I said back, but couldn’t help let a grin appear on my face.  
Cedric was lead out of the Hall and Dumbledore spoke once more.  
“Excellent! We now have our three Champions but in the end, only one will go down in History. Only one will hoist this Chalice of Champions, this Vessel of Victory, the Tri-Wizard cup!”  
As Dumbledore turned around and pointed at the item under a blanket that Crouch had just brought out, the blanket flew off, revealing the cup underneath. The cup was beautiful. I could not believe that light blue light that shone from the ornately crafted cup was going to be given to a 17-year-old.  
I watched as Snape walked forward, a concerned look on his face as he stared at the cup. I too turned to look at the cup as the flames started to grow again, spreading upwards and outwards, turning into a blinding red colour. The flames shot higher up and spit out another parchment. I looked at Harry, fear evident in my eyes. Please, don’t be Harry’s name.  
Dumbledore caught the paper, holding it for a moment before reading out two words that would cause my viens to feel like they had been plunged into ice water, the words that would start the horrible events that were yet to come.  
“Jacklyn Potter.”  
My breath caught in my throat, my vision blurring. It couldn’t be. I didn’t put my name in the Goblet. I barely went near it! Plus, there was already a Hogwarts Champion and I wasn’t 17. I felt panicked like I never had before.  
“Jacklyn Potter.” Dumbledore said a little louder. The whole room was looking at me now. Why did this keep happening?  
“Jacklyn Potter!” Dumbledore yelled this time.  
“Jacky.” My brother said, shaking me out of my stupor. “You have to go.”  
“I can’t.” I said, my voice trembling. “I didn’t do it.”  
Harry gave me a helpless look. There wasn’t anything he could do. I was going to have to brave this on my own. I stood up, avoiding eye contact with my friends and other Slytherins across the hall. I would deal with that later.  
I walked up to Dumbledore slowly. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t find any words to say. He handed me the parchment. I stared at my name neatly printed on it. It made this whole disaster feel more real. I did not enjoy that feeling. I could feel my stress, stronger than before. I looked back at my brother. It wasn’t my stress getting stronger, it was his adding itself to mine.  
I walked up to the front of the hall, hearing heckles from the people around me. I walked up to Snape, his usual cold features mixed with what I thought looked like a little bit of concern. I kept walking, passed all the teachers, including Hagrid who ruffled his hand through my hair in a way he must have thought, would be comforting. However, I was beyond any physical comfort at that moment.  
I walked down, alone, through the dimly lit stairway towards where the three actual Champions were. I entered the large metal doors and walked towards the fireplace at the back of the room where the Champions were standing. They looked at me with confusion.  
I could hear shouting and quick steps coming from behind me. I turned around to see a large group of professors walking briskly towards me, lead by a very upset looking Dumbledore. He walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders.  
“Jacky, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?” He asked, anger tinging his voice. Did he actually think that I did this? Did he not know how much I hated the fame my brother had been given, why would I want that?  
“N-no Headmaster.” I stuttered. “I swear!”  
“Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?” He pressed.  
“No, I wouldn’t even know who to ask,” I answered honestly. I just had to tell the truth, I shouldn’t be in trouble. This wasn’t my fault!  
“I highly doubt Miss. Potter would be capable of this. She isn’t as reckless as her brother.” Snape said, moving out from where he had been standing behind Dumbledore. Ouch, but also he was correct, I didn’t have the magic to fool a spell as powerful as that. Dumbledore took his hands off my shoulders  
“I’m just in fourth-year and I’m rubbish at potions so I can’t have even made one break the spell like Fred and George tried,” I said, desperately trying to make them see my innocence. “You know me, I never would want anything like this.”  
“Liar!” Madam Maxime said, batting a hanging lamp out of her way as she strode towards me. I gulped, she looked angry, she could probably smoosh me with one hard step if she wanted to.  
“The hell she is!” Moody said, coming to my defense. I was surprised by this, we hadn’t gotten off to a good start. Perhaps he was trying to make up for that first day in Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
“The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object.” Moody continued. “Only an exceptionally powerful confundus charm could have hoodwinked it. That’s magic way beyond the talents of a fourth-year.” He hissed.  
“You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-Eye.” Victor Karkaroff said in an accusatory tone, striding in front of me to stand before Moody. I was glad that they were not accusing me anymore, though I wasn’t sure how I felt about them accusing each other.  
“It was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff, perhaps you would remember?” Moody said in a low tone. I watched Kararoff’s guarded but surprised reaction. It seems these two had some history. I had a feeling it wasn’t good.  
“That doesn’t help, Alistar,” Dumbledore growled. He walked away from me and towards Crouch who had his back turned to everyone. “I leave this to you Barty.”  
I waited and watched in stressful anticipation as the man deliberated.  
“The rules are absolute. The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract.” Crouch turned around to face me, his stare making a pit of dread form in my stomach.  
“Miss Potter, she is, as of tonight, a Tri-Wizard Champion.” Crouch finished. Everyone, for the fourth time this awful week, turned around to look at me.  
“I won’t do it, and I’m only fourteen, it’s not even allowed!” I argued.  
“Nothing can be done. You have to compete.” Crouch said. I could feel my ears start to burn. I was worried about my future, but more than that, I was angry.  
“I’m going to die, and you are all just going to stand there and let me!” I shouted. People had died in this tournament, I was alright at magic but nothing special, there was no way I would be able to do this. I felt as though I had been betrayed and condemned. I fought back tears.  
“Please, don’t make me.” I said, desperately looking to my head of house. His face was hard and almost unreadable, but I could see sympathy in his eyes.  
“I’m afraid we cannot do anything.” He said, stepping towards me. “For now, all you can do is practice your magic.”  
I hung my head, finally accepting that they were not going to help me get out of this. I was going to be forced to compete as the fourth Champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament and I was doomed.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When I stepped into the common room a large bundle of brown hair and bangs ran right towards me, wrapping me in a hug.  
“What happened?” Tracey asked from her spot attached to me like a leach. “We were so worried about you did you actually put your name in the Goblet and how did you do it I don’t understand -” Tracey rambled before I cut her off.  
“I’m okay. I think.” I said, pulling her off me so that I could breathe. She had the tightest hug I’d ever felt, it could rival Mrs. Weasley.  
“What happened?” Theo asked, coming to stand with us. I looked around at all the Slythetin’s in the common room. Malfoy and his friends were sitting on the couches close to us, pretending not to listen. I had no doubt that they were paying attention to what I was saying. I thought it would be best if they heard it from me and not from the rumors that I’m sure were already spreading around.  
“I didn’t put my name in the Goblet.” I started. Theo nodded.  
“I didn’t think you did.” He said. I smiled at him.  
“That makes one person,” I said a little saltily, still upset over the accusations that had been thrown at me. “I was accused of it by pretty much everyone but Dumbledore no longer thinks I put my name in the Goblet… I’m pretty sure.”  
“So are you competing?” Tracey said anxiously. I let out a heavy sigh and gave them a sad look.  
“Yah. I tried to get out of it, but I wasn’t allowed.”  
“But you’re three years too young!” Theo exclaimed.  
“That’s what I said.” I replied mournfully.  
“Did I just hear that Side-Kick Potter would be competing as a Tri-Wizard Champion?” I heard the shrill voice of Pansy ask teasingly. I look back towards the couches where the Slytherins sitting there were no longer just pretending to listen and were all staring right at me.  
“Yup,” I said, walking towards them, Theo and Tracey keeping up with me. “You better watch out Pansy, maybe I’ll miss a spell in one of the events and it’ll horribly disfigure your face. Oh wait, it already is.” Pansy stood up quickly, her fists clenched at her side.  
“I’m sure you’ll miss either way. I’m betting that you’ll die in these events, you aren’t that good at magic.” Pansy hissed.  
“Like you’re any better.” I scoffed.  
“I, for one, am glad we have Slytherin representation in the tournament,” Malfoy said. “Even if it is Potter.”  
“Thanks, Malfoy.” I said sarcastically.  
“Don’t mention it. Try not to get yourself killed. It would reflect poorly on the rest of us.” He said dryly. I rolled my eyes.  
“Well, since you are all no fun to be around, I’m going to bed.” I said and swiftly turned on my heels away from them. “Goodnight Theo.” I said. He nodded, looking after me worriedly as I walked arm in arm with Tracey to our bedroom. Today had been crazy, and now all I needed was to sleep. I was exhausted.  
“Have you seen your brother yet?” Tracey asked as we got ready for bed. I shook my head.  
“I don’t even know what he’s going to say.” I said. Tracy hummed her agreement.  
As I sat down on my bed I felt Bear step onto my lap. He looked up at me through his bright, yellow eyes and purred. I wondered if he could tell how I was feeling. Even I could barely grasp the swirl of emotions that was clouding my brain. I laid down on my bed, Bear moving to cuddle my side, as I drifted off into one of the soon to be many uneasy sleeps I would get throughout my time as a Tri-Wizard Champion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this portion of the story!
> 
> What do you think about Jacky being the Champion? Why do you think it's Jacky and not Harry. Let me know! I would love to get some reviews
> 
> Chapters will come out faster if you do!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear reviews and feedback, they really help motivate me :)


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